Mining, construction, and other large scale excavating operations require fleets of digging, loading, and hauling machines to remove and transport excavated material such as ore or overburden from an area of excavation to a predetermined destination. For such an operation to be profitable, the fleet of machines must be productively and efficiently operated. Many factors can influence productivity and efficiency at a worksite including, among other things, machine conditions (i.e., age, state of disrepair, malfunction, fuel grade in use, etc.), operator conditions (i.e., experience, skill, dexterity, ability to multi-task, machine or worksite familiarity, etc.), and site conditions (i.e., rain, snow, ground moisture levels, material composition, visibility, terrain contour, etc.). Unfortunately, when operations at a worksite are unproductive or inefficient, it can be difficult to determine which of these factors is having the greatest influence and should be addressed.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,190,335 to Vik et al. discloses a performance management system for a plurality of machines at a worksite. The performance management system includes a data acquisition module configured to monitor performance of the machines, and a controller configured to collect machine performance data from the data acquisition module to detect a performance irregularity. The controller may also be configured to determine which of a machine condition, operator condition, or site condition is the predominant cause of the performance irregularity.
As should be appreciated, there is a continuing need for strategies to improve performance and efficiency of construction and mining operations.